Once again, we’re being bombarded by the graphic images of devastation. For parents, it becomes a difficult challenge: how to offer emotional support to our children in the wake of a tragedy. In the new book, On Grief and Grieving, Finding the Meaning of Grief through the Five Stages of Loss (Simon & Schuster, $25), by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessler, has a chapter of helping children deal with loss. Kessler, the co-author with the late Kubler-Ross of Life Lessons, offers these timely tips for parents:

Poisonings are the second leading cause of unintentional home-injury death and account for nearly one-third of all unintentional home injuries. “Every American home has potentially toxic products, including medications, pesticides and automotive fluids,” says Home Safety Council president, Meri-K Appy. “While families with young children need to take extra precautions, poison hazards are a risk for every family member. Safe handling and storage of potentially dangerous products should be a standard practice at home.”

Despite an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency to phase out the use of pressure-treated lumber in playground equipment, the pesticide-treated wood continues to be sold. Unwitting consumers could use this wood for decks or backyard planters, where the pesticide can leach into the soil or get on children¡?s hands. Composite wood, cedar and redwood, while more expensive, are non-toxic alternatives. JENNIFER LACEY explains why.

Tonya Pinkins has made one of the most complicated journeys of any Broadway star — from welfare mother to a Tony-nominated role in Caroline, or Change. The mother of four children, ages 17, 14, 8 and 5, Pinkins plays an African-American maid to a Louisiana Jewish family in the Tony Kushner musical.

DR. JAYNE RIVAS is chairperson of the department of pediatrics at Saint Vincent Catholic Medical Centers/St. Vincent’s Hospital in Manhattan. One of six children, she grew up on Staten Island. At 14, she started working at St. Vincent’s as a ‘Vincenteen’, a fully trained nurses’ aide, and continued that work part-time throughout high school and into college, intending to become an R.N. But she switched majors to chemistry and applied to medical school instead.

Water babies We tote our babies on land, why not in water, too? The WaterToT neoprene infant carrier allows parents to comfortably and securely attach babies — from 8 to 30 pounds — close to their bodies during water recreation or even when showering! $59.99; for more info: www.watertot.com.

If you looked through the bookshelves of any child in America, chances are there would be at least several Dr. Seuss books. Amazingly, if you looked through that child’s parents’ childhood book collection, you would probably see many of the same Dr. Seuss titles. Theodor Geisel, born 100 years ago, wrote and illustrated 44 books as Dr. Seuss — books that still charm, educate and tickle the funnybones of children. Dr. Seuss’s books have also influenced a generation of children’s book authors. We asked some locally to expound on Dr. Seuss’s impact on their writing. . .

Kate White is Editor-in-Chief of Cosmopolitan, the largest-selling, most successful young women's magazine in the world. She began her career as an editorial assistant at Glamour, after winning their "Top Ten College Women" contest and appearing on the cover.

FUN GUIDES

About Us

NYMetroParents is the parenting division of Davler Media Group and encompasses 9 regional print magazines within the greater NY metro region as well as the website (nymetroparents.com). Following the success of the first NYC parenting resource book, "Big Apple Baby," BIG APPLE PARENT was launched in 1985; it is now the largest publisher of regional parenting content in the United States.